Pentecost: Early Church’s View on the Spiritual Gifts
Today is Pentecost (in the Western tradition), where Christians celebrate the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles and the other followers in the Upper Room in Jerusalem.
I thought it would be interesting to reflect on the early church’s view on spiritual gifts.
The Constitution of the Holy Apostles was compiled around 380 AD in Antioch. It detailed various instruction around Church administration and doctrine.
One part looked at the function of the spiritual gifts.
This section began by quoting scripture:
Mark 16 v 17
And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.
The document tells us that the spiritual gifts were given to the Apostles, and those who believed, in order to preach the Gospel.
The gifts are not for the advantage of the person exercising the gift. But to convict unbelievers who are not persuaded by preaching.
As these gifts are given by God’s grace, it is not necessary that every Christian should cast out demons, raise the dead or speak with other tongues to show they are part of God’s kingdom.
These gifts are used to see the salvation of unbelievers, not a badge of honour to show that the person who is exercising the gift is saved.
The writings continue to say that just as the miracles performed by Moses did not persuade the Egyptians, equally the miracles performed by Jesus did not persuade the Jewish elites. Miracles only persuade those who are in the right place to be saved. Those who are not receptive, as discussed in the Parable of the Sower, will not be in the position to receive God’s gift of salvation.
It goes on to say that those who are granted these gifts should not ‘exalt’ themselves above those who do not have them. They should not boast in them, but use them in humility.
What are the Spiritual Gifts?
The Constitution gives a list of spiritual gifts:
word of wisdom,
word of knowledge,
discerning of spirits,
foreknowledge of things to come,
the word of teaching,
gift of long-suffering,
continually living according to the law.
These are slightly different to the list found in 1 Corinthians. Maybe these were the spiritual gifts exercised in 4th Century Antioch at the time.
I assume the spiritual gift of ‘living according to the law’ is related to the Jews who accepted Christ.
The Greatest Spiritual Gift
I love how the Constitution also mentions how the greatest spiritual gift is Jesus, God’s miracle of salvation.
Every other gift is used by God to draw people to Him. They are used to prepare the hearts of unbelievers to receive the gift of Christ.
Jesus is the only gift which ensures salvation and the only gift we can boast in.
Galatians 6 v 14
May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
Cessationism
Simply speaking, cessationism believes the gifts of the Holy Spirit died out with the Apostles. It seems to have come out of the Reformation and so I wonder if it was a response to the Catholicism of the time.
It then grew in popularity during the Enlightenment, which encouraged a purely materialistic world view. This discounted anything spiritual as an illusion and held a skeptical view of anything passing as a miracle.
At the time, Protestantism generally agreed to adopt this position, as well as Jehovah Witnesses and other fringe Christian groups.
By the end of the Victorian period, an interest had grown in spiritualism, astrology and other occult practices. Probably, as a response to the restrictive Enlightenment paradigm.
With this backdrop, Pentecostalism started in the early 1900s. It was as though it was bringing the belief in miracles and spiritual gifts back into Protestantism.
The Catholic and Orthodox traditions, as far as I am aware, never dismissed miracles. It appears to me, only the 19th and 20th Century Protestants took this position.
But Where are the Miracles in the Western World?
The Western mindset is a product of the materialistic Enlightenment world view. This is where the only way to understand reality is through our physical senses and the scientific method.
Consequently, when a miracle happens our minds struggle to comprehend it. We immediately reach for the Enlightenment’s skeptical tool kit, rather than accepting God’s divine intervention.
It could be that our generations are like the Egyptians or the Jewish Elites, where no matter how many miracles our culture sees, they will never accept Christ.
But in actuality, I think miracles happen all the time, but we don’t recognise them or have the language to explain them. We may feel embarrassed or worried that others will think we are superstitious or naive if we share our experiences of the Divine.
Maybe we should be a little more daring and ask God for a personal miracle, which will cause us to boast in Him.